Thinking about ditching the raised beds and going to earth boxes/self watering containers.

[zeemike]

1. I gardened in the SE for many years a while back

And I used raised beds...they were 4 feet across with a 2 foot walk space between.
In the winter I would fill the walk spaces with manure and in the spring rototill the whole thing and dig out the walkways trowing it in the beds...I ran a soaker hose right down the middle of the bed and planted two roes of tomatoes on either side then mulched the whole thing with hay...when we had heavy rains the walkways let the beds drain and the mulch and organic matter retained the moisture.
I had so may tomatoes I let the birds take what they wanted and still had plenty for myself and lots to give away.
Hope this helps.